The Indian markets were on a roll today, with the Sensex and Nifty making fresh life highs, led by gains in banks, auto and energy stocks. The S&P BSE Sensex rallied over 300 points to hit its fresh record high of 26,413.11, while the Nifty rose 89 points to hit a fresh life high of 7,880.50 today amid firm European cues, after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a scheme for financial inclusion while easing whole-sale price inflation also boosted sentiment.

The S&P BSE Sensex closed at 26,390.96, up 287.73 points or +1.10 per cent. It touched an all-time high of 26,406.92 and a low of 26,075.28 in trade today. The 50-share index ended at 7,874.25, up 82.55 points or +1.06 per cent. It touched an all-time high of 7,880.50 and a low of 7,779.20 in trade today. The Nifty extended its winning streak for the fifth consecutive session as FIIs continued to pump in dollars in Indian markets on expectations of pick-up in economy.

Most market analysts expect the rally to continue for the rest of the year as well supported by strong global liquidity and implementations of key reforms by the new government. Indian equity markets have been the biggest recipient of FII flows among emerging markets this year despite recent geopolitical tensions, depreciating rupee and the QE tapering by the US Federal Reserve, say experts. If we look closely on the movement of the index in the last four trading sessions, the markets have regained about 80 per cent of the losses what they had incurred 10 days prior to that. So from a structural perspective, that is signalling strength in the market, say analysts.

It looks like FIIs are turning sellers in Russia on geo-political concerns, which is favouring Indian markets, said market analyst A K Prabhakar. He expects Nifty to hit 8,500 by next month-end and 9,200 by December-end. For Sensex, the next likely target is 31,000 for the same period, he added.

Sudip Bandyopadhyay, President, Destimoney Securities, is of the view that the market will continue to move upwards. A lot of FIIs money is coming out of Russia into Indian markets through BRICS fund. Domestic investors are also entering the market and that is providing support, said Bandyopadhyay.

We shall see new highs if Infra and PSUs participate, says Ashwani Gujral. You had five to six up sessions. Now there is no question of buying after five-six up sessions. What you have to do is to wait. We will go back all the way to 7550. The only thing I want to look at for the next few days is whether infra and PSUs participate. If they participate, we are going to new highs. If we are still dependent on IT and pharma, then there is a problem, he explains.